Cameras of this type are known, and they are used, for example, to produce images of objects, animals or humans for the purpose of examining these. For example, the article “Photon-counting versus an integrating CCD-based gamma camera: important consequences for spatial resolution”, Phys. Med. Biol. 50 (2005) N109-N119, by Beekman and De Vree, describes a gamma camera comprising a bundle of columnar scintillators which, via a tapered bundle of optical fibres, is coupled to a CCD.
The camera disclosed by the abovementioned document has the drawback that the light guides used are fibres grown from scintillating material and must meet a number of requirements. One of these relates to the circumstance that only a small number of scintillation materials is suitable for being grown as fibres. This restriction in the choice of material manifests itself, inter alia, in drawbacks such as a limited conversion efficiency and the limited maximum length of the fibres, resulting in limited total radiation conversion. Moreover, the materials such as cesium iodide are often hygroscopic, which has an adverse effect on the service life of the fibres. Furthermore, protective measures such as enclosing fibres of this type in glass or the like result in increased cost and complexity.